Preparation, characterization and surface pKa values of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)/chitosan blend films

Blend films of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) and chitosan (CTS) were prepared by casting method from acetic acid solutions. All blend films obtained are optically clear to the naked eye. The structure and physical properties of the blend films were analyzed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), mechanical testing (Instron) and contact-angle measurements. The ATR-FTIR results indicated that there is no detectable band shifts at 1650 cm⁻¹. From TGA studies, it was found that the onset degradation temperature of the blends almost unchanged due to the presence of a weak interaction between PVP and CTS chains. The DSC analysis showed a single glass transition temperature for all the blends, indicating that these polymers are miscible over the entire composition range. The mechanical properties of the blends, such as breaking stress and elongation at break and Young modulus were greatly affected with increase of CTS content. In addition, we found that the blends exhibit well defined contact angle titration curves from which the surface pK_a values were determined. In conclusion, these experimental findings provide fundamental knowledge for the preparation of bioreactive surfaces of controlled reactivity on CTS based blends.